{"id":976,"date":"2025-02-27T14:56:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-27T13:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/?p=976"},"modified":"2025-02-27T14:56:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-27T13:56:34","slug":"kick-off-event-of-the-project-soonwald-nahe-sponge-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afaktive.stoffstrom.org\/en\/2025\/02\/27\/kick-off-event-of-the-project-soonwald-nahe-sponge-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Kick-off event of the project “Soonwald-Nahe Sponge Region”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Monday 17th<\/sup> February 2025, the AFaktive team from the Institute for Applied Material Flow Management, IfaS (Trier University of Applied Sciences) attended the kick-off meeting of the “Soonwald-Nahe Sponge Region” project in Bad Kreuznach. In a presentation from IfaS, stakeholders from agriculture and forestry, local residents and representatives from government agencies and authorities were introduced to agroforestry as a building block in the landscape water balance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below is the official press release with further details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bad Kreuznach, 17 February 2025 – Last Monday, the official kick-off event for the “Soonwald-Nahe Sponge Region” project took place at the Bad Kreuznach district administration. Numerous representatives from agriculture and forestry, local authorities and other interested regional stakeholders took part in the event to discuss the objectives of the project and to network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU) until the end of 2026 and is a partner consortium consist of the Hochschule Geisenheim University, the Soonwald-Nahe Nature Park and the Soonwald-Nahe Regional Alliance. This is the first time that science, public organisations and the volunteer platform have cooperated in the region. The aim is to establish a cross-stakeholder network for water retention and to develop and implement practical measures to increase water retention in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A sustainable concept for a “sponge region”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Soonwald-Nahe Nature Park region is increasingly confronted with extreme hydrological events. More frequent flooding and periods of extreme drought affect both the wooded heights of the Soonwald and the open Nahe valley. These developments are not only caused by the climate, but are primarily the result of a landscape that has been altered by man and has limited water retention capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large number of measures to increase surface water retention have taken place in the region to date, both in the forest and in open land. However, there has often been a lack of dialogue between the various activities, particularly between initiatives in open land and forests. The “Soonwald-Nahe sponge region” project addresses this issue: Together with local stakeholders and experts from science and planning, targeted solutions for extensive water retention in the entire region are to be developed and initial pilot measures implemented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core objectives of the project include<\/p>\n\n\n\n